Grace Clinton on West Ham victory: “It shows the character of the team right now”
Mon 22 January 2024, 11:30|
Tottenham Hotspur
Grace Clinton produced a stellar performance on her return to the starting XI to inspire us to victory over West Ham United in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
The 20-year-old England international returned after missing the FA Cup tie to Sheffield United, and it only took eight minutes for the midfielder to make an impact, sending a low-driven effort into the bottom corner to give us an early lead.
She turned provider ahead of the break with a lovely weighted pass for Celin Bizet’s goal before doubling her tally three minutes into the second half, a lovely first time strike through a sea of bodies and into the bottom right, handing us a two-goal advantage.
Her performance, unsurprisingly, saw her awarded Barclays Player of the Match, and Grace praised the character in the team, with Jess Naz netting the winner to secure the three points after the Hammers fought back to 3-3.
“It was nerve-wracking,” Grace said in her post-match interview with SPURSPLAY. “We really wanted the win to start the New Year, we defended with our lives, and it just shows the character of the team right now.
Reflecting on her two goals, she said: “I don’t even know what happened for the first goal, to be honest. I just swiped at it because when you hit it with your left foot, you don’t really think about it. This was also the first match where I have been put the edge of the box at corners, so hopefully they will keep me there.
“We have got a lot of players back from injury, but we also have new faces, so it’s about building connections and building with each other and play Robert’s style is so important. Just keep winning really.”
Speaking on her partnership with Celin, Grace was full of praise for the Norway international. She said: “Celin is my best friend, on and off the pitch, so I’m always looking for her. She’s an unbelievable footballer, whenever I’m dribbling with the ball, I’m always thinking where’s Celin to try and slide her in.
“So, I saw her run to set it up and I was buzzing that she scored. She’s such an amazing player and she will get confidence from that and play even better.”
Our focus turns to Southampton on Thursday evening in the Continental Cup ahead of welcoming Manchester City to Brisbane Road on Sunday, and Grace is looking forward to the upcoming challenges.
Grace added: “We are looking forward to the next set of fixtures, whether that is league or cup games, we love them all. It will be nice to see all the amazing squad players in our team, they are some players that will get the opportunity to play and I’m so excited to watch them as they are unbelievable players as well.”
